Retractable rail assemblies



June 30, 1964 Filed Feb. 21, 1963 J. C. LEWIS ETAL 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 {4i! 2/ \IQ 1 \v.\\\\ E 22 I, I t zMTEEE Q I z I I J i r F G. I

INVENTORS JAMES C. LEW/5 MIL TON 6. NE UMAN A TTORNE Y J n 1964 J. c.LEWIS ETAL RETRACTABLE RAIL ASSEMBLIES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 21,1965 o o u o a FIG. 4

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n 1964 J. c. LEWIS ETAL RETRACTABLE RAIL ASSEMBLIES 3 Sheets-Sheet 3Filed Feb. 21, 1963 United States Patent 'ce 3,138,989 RETRACTABLE KARLASSlElt EELHES James E. Lewis, Columbia Heights, and Milton C. Neuman,Champlin, Minn, assign-hrs, by mesne assignments, to the United Statesof America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed Feb. 21,1963, Ser. No. 250,344) 3 Claims. (Cl. 89--1.7)

This invention relates to missile launchers of the type having amagazine and a launcher guide, and, more particularly, to the specificconstruction of the retractable rails of the magazine.

Missile launchers of the type having a magazine and a launcher guidegenerally have the magazine located below the launcher guide as shown inUS. Patent 3,065,- 673 which was issued to R. F. Hereth on November 27,1962. Launchers of this type require some means of transporting themissile to the magazine, both in loading the magazine and subsequentthereto in transferring the missile from the magazine to the launcherguide preparatory to firing. The missiles are stored in a verticalposition in individual compartments, on rails, and are in position to behoisted to the launcher guide at seconds notice. Generally, a mechanismis provided to bring either the magazine to the position of the launcherguide or the guide to the position of the missile next to be fired. Ineither situation, there must be a rail leading from the magazine to thelauncher guide which may be connected or disconnected to the rails onwhich the missile rests in the compartment. In the missile launcher ofthe present invention, the magazine is rotated, step by step, toposition the missiles, in progression, below the launcher guide. Therails connecting the rails of the missile compartment with the rails ofthe launcher guide must be capable of movement to a retracted positionto permit rotation of the magazine. The structure of these moveableconnecting rails is the subject of this invention.

One object of the present invention is to provide a retractable railassembly for connecting the rail of the missile compartment in themagazine with the rail of the launcher guide and which may be moved intoor out of its operational position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a retractable railwhich when in extended or missile transferring position will provide asignal which will be made available to the operator as an indication asto whether a missile is actualiy in the compartment ready to be hoistedor whether the compartment is empty.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide aretractable rail which may be withdrawn from an operative position topermit rotation of the magazine.

In correlation with the foregoing objects, it is a further object toprovide actuation mechanisms for accomplishing the desired movements ofthe rail.

Other objects inherent in the construction of the retractable rail willbe apparent and are to be considered a part of this invention, which isillustrated, in one form in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of the retractable rails as applied to amagazine having an outer ring of storage compartments and an inner ringof storage compartments.

FIG. 2 is a pictorial view of the rail side of the retractable railassembly.

FIG. 3 is a pictorial view of the support side of the retractable railassembly.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detailed view of the lower end of the retractablerail, disclosing the shoe contact arms.

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the lower end of the retractable railassembly with parts thereof in section.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal section of the disclosure of FIG. 5.

Patented .lnne 3Q, 196

FIG. 7 is a section on line 77 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a section on line 88 of FIG. 5.

Referring particularly to FIG. 1 wherein the parts are diagrammaticallyillustrated in order to make the overall operation clear, a rotatablemagazine for a missile launcher is illustrated at lit with an innercylindrical housing 12.. A plurality of missile compartments (notspecifically shown) extend around the inside outer wall of the magazineand a second circle of compartments surround the inner cylindricalhousing ll. Missiles 12 are shown in the inner circle and missiles 13are shown in the outer circle.

The entire magazine revolves on a circular track so that the missilesare presented in turn to a position in alignment with a hatch 14 overwhich a launcher gmide is located. The launcher guide may be moved toselect from either circle of missiles. Both the missiles 12 of the innercircle and the missiles 13 of the outer circle are supported in avertical position and have forward shoes 17 and aft shoes 18 which areslideably carried on stationary rails 15 and 16 of the inner and outercompartments respectively. The stationary rails extend to a point aboutmidway of the missile and there are other stationary sections 3.8 and21, respectively, of the inner and outer circles of compartments whichare located near the top of the magazine. The space between the lowerstationary rails and the upper stationary rail sections is spanned by aretractable rail which must be capable of being retracted from the railpath to permit the magazine to rotate when the missiles are in position(because of other structure not here illustrated).

These retractable sections must be moved into and out of connecting orextended position in a minimum period or" time and must be sufiicientlyrigid to support the weight of the heavy missiles. In the embodiment ofthe invnetion shown, the rails are hinged at 22 to permit the lower endto be swung out of the path of rotation of the magazine, but could bedifferently mounted to be retracted in other but equally as efficientmanner. A rod 23 slideable in the structure of the retractable railassembly is connected to a bell crank 24 pivoted at 25. The other end ofthe crank 24 is connected to a hydraulically operated piston 26. Initialmovement of the piston in the direction of the arrow will swing the railinto extended or rail connecting position, while further movement of thepiston will slide the rod vertically along the retractable rail assemblyto cause the rod 23 to engage the notch 27 and secure the rail inextended position. The rail assembly is retracted with a reversemovement of the piston.

With the railin extended position the missile may be hoisted along therail, through the hatch and onto the launcher guide.

Referring to the other figures wherein the structure of the railassemblies is illustrated, the several parts are numbered differentlyfrom their representations shown in FIG. 1. i

The rail assemblies for both the inner circle of compartments and theouter circle of compartments are alike so only one will be described.

The rail assembly comprises a frame formed from a pair of tubularmembers 31 securely held together by cross members 32. Fastened by meansof lugs 33, the rail section 34 is securely attached to the crossmembers. The rail section has a guiding section 35 receiving the foreand aft shoes of the missile and a smaller recessed portion 36 throughwhich the hoist chain travels.

Adjacent the top of the assembly an axle 37 pivotally supports plates 38which are secured to the magazine to hingedly support the rail assembly.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 4 and 5, a pivoted L shaped lever 39 hasone and positioned in the path of the 3 forward missile shoe and uponthe rail assembly moving into extended position the end of the levercontacts the missile shoe, moves about its pivot and moves a rod 41connected to the other end of the pivoted L-shaped lever. This rodactuates a switch 42 which energizes an electrical circuit to signal anoperator at a remote location, or operates automatic mechanism, notshown, to indicate that a missile is in the compartment, ready forhoisting.

The movement of the piston 26 moves the vertical rod 23 as shown inFIG. 1. This rod is shown in the structural representation as rod 44 andmoves a cam follower 45 to move the rail assembly from extended toretracted position or vice versa. The rod 44 extends beyond the camfollower and engages a socket, not shown, to lock the rail assembly inextended position. The rod 44 is connected to the cam follower 45through a swivel connection 47. The cam follower 45 carries a pin 48which follows the cam 49 to give swinging motion to the retractable railassembly upon vertical movement of the rod 44.

The retractable rail assemblies when in extended position, serve tobridge the gap between the permanent rails of the magazine duringlowering or hoisting of the missiles and withdraw to a retractedposition to permit rotation of the magazine.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention arepossible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. In a missile launching system having a magazine with an outercylindrical wall with a fixed upper missile rail, an inner cylindricalstructure and a ready service ring supporting means forming verticallyarranged missile storage cells between the outer wall and the innerstructure, each of the cells having a missile supporting rail, aretractable rail substantially vertically arranged between the fixedmagazine rail and the cell rail comprising:

means for securing the retractable rail to the outer cylindrical wall;

means connected to the retractable rail for moving the rail from themissile path during indexing rota- A} tion thereof with the readyservice ring, for missile selection, and to move the retractable railinto alignment with the fixed magazine rail and the missile rail of theselected cell, upon a missile being positioned for loading.

2. In a missile launching system having a magazine with an outercylindrical wall with a fixed upper missile rail, an inner cylindricalstructure and a ready service ring supporting means forming verticallyarranged missile storage cells between the outer wall and the innerstructure, each of the cells having an attached missile rail, aretractable rail vertically arranged between the fixed magazine rail andthe missile rail in the cell comprising:

means for pivotally securing the upper end of the retractable rail tothe outer cylindrical wall;

means connected to the retractable rail for moving the lower end of theretractable rail through a limited arc to displace the retractable railfrom the missile path during indexing rotation of the ready service ringfor missile cell selection and to move the retractable rail intoalignment with the missile rail of the selected cell and the fixed railof the magazzine upon a missile being positioned for loading.

3. The structure according to claim 2 wherein the system has meansforming an outer and an inner circle of missile cells and including asecond retractable rail pivotally secured to the inner structure;

a second fixed rail secured to the inner structure; and

means for moving said second retractable rail into and out of alignmentwith the fixed rail of the inner structure and the missile rail of theselected cell of the inner circle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,809,558 Hersh Oct. 15, 1957 2,870,678 Girovard et a1 Jan. 27, 19593,045,552 Grenstad et al. July 24, 1962 3,048,087 Campbell Aug. 7, 19623,054,330 Carlberg Sept. 18, 1962 3,072,018 Wilson Jan. 8, 19633,095,780 Bauer et al. July 2, 1963

2. IN A MISSILE LAUNCHING SYSTEM HAVING A MAGAZINE WITH AN OUTERCYLINDRICAL WALL WITH A FIXED UPPER MISSILE RAIL, AN INNER CYLINDRICALSTRUCTURE AND A READY SERVICE RING SUPPORTING MEANS FORMING VERTICALLYARRANGED MISSILE STORAGE CELLS BETWEEN THE OUTER WALL AND THE INNERSTRUCTURE, EACH OF THE CELLS HAVING AN ATTACHED MISSILE RAIL, ARETRACTABLE RAIL VERTICALLY ARRANGED BETWEEN THE FIXED MAGAZINE RAIL ANDTHE MISSILE RAIL IN THE CELL COMPRISING: MEANS FOR PIVOTALLY SECURINGTHE UPPER END OF THE RETRACTABLE RAIL TO THE OUTER CYLINDRICAL WALL;MEANS CONNECTED TO THE RETRACTABLE RAIL FOR MOVING THE LOWER END OF THERETRACTABLE RAIL THROUGH A LIMITED ARC TO DISPLACE THE RETRACTABLE RAILFROM THE MISSILE PATH DURING INDEXING ROTATION OF THE READY SERVICE RINGFOR MISSILE CELL SELECTION AND TO MOVE THE RETRACTABLE RAIL INTOALIGNMENT WITH THE MISSILE RAIL OF THE SELECTED CELL AND THE FIXED RAILOF THE MAGAZZINE UPON A MISSILE BEING POSITIONED FOR LOADING.